How Good Is Your Insurance Policy On iTunes Downloads?

from the iNsurance dept

Mon, Sep 11th 2006 10:16am — Joseph Weisenthal

As more of our assets take a digital form, questions about defining ownership and property rights have become quite complex. Many in the entertainment industry have taken a contradictory stance, claiming that digital assets should be treated like physical goods on issues like theft and piracy, while denying the right of first sale, when applied to such goods. A question that is bound to become an issue as people buy more digital music and movies is whether one can buy insurance for digital goods. Jerry Brito points to an article about one company, Nationwide, that has announced a new program whereby one can buy insurance for any legally acquired collection of digital music. So, if your house catches fire, and both your computer and iPod melt, you can get reimbursed for all of the money spent at iTunes. It's cool to see an insurance company recognizing the changing nature of personal assets, but this wouldn't be necessary if more services allowed users to download a file multiple times after an initial purchase. If an insurance company really wants to get creative, how about selling a policy that will reimburse you for the cost of your collection if the DRM format you bought your music in stops being supported?

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22 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 11 Sep 2006 @ 11:14am

drm makes me happy
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MissingFrame, 11 Sep 2006 @ 11:34am

What's next?
So maybe soon you could buy "insurance" from the label, at $1/yr per song.
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Bill M., 11 Sep 2006 @ 11:35am

I had a hard disk problem that caused my iTunes and Windows Media DRM tracks to be corrupted. Customer service at both iTunes and MSN Music allowed me to re-download all my purchased tracks. Although it would be better if this were an automatic -- or I should say unattended -- function it's not as though the companies heartlessly refused to help me re-acquire my content and licenses. I'm not saying I love DRM but the companies do allow the tracks to be re-downloaded when you ask them.
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- CoJeff, 11 Sep 2006 @ 1:47pm
  
  Re:
  #3,
  Didn't you have a proper backup? Its not up to the companies to help us keep our digital data safe. Its up to YOU! I have a extremely large itunes library, 130gb and I have 4 copies of it. Two are backups and two are working copies. I personally wouldn't want my music app to start downloading stuff I didn't ask it to do.
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Another Coward, 11 Sep 2006 @ 11:36am

download insurance
drm blows! What about covering your investment when your new player itself doesn't support the drm used?
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- Anonymous Coward, 11 Sep 2006 @ 12:17pm
  
  Re: download insurance
  thats just a stupid consumer. research before you buy. dont get creative's "zen" if you want to use itunes..etc
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Anonymous Coward, 11 Sep 2006 @ 12:29pm

Yes
The insurance companies are heroes!

Hahaha....the world IS turned upside-down!
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Anonymous Coward, 11 Sep 2006 @ 12:52pm

DRM doesn't blow
eveyrthing you are all complaining about is configurable within DRM today and/or existing applications. The issue is really how is the right's holder choosing to package their content and not is the technology good or bad.

Like the nuclear energy vs nuclear weapons debate
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- Anonymous Coward, 11 Sep 2006 @ 1:21pm
  
  Re: DRM doesn't blow
  #7 comment - I have a question then, if DRM was so configurable then how come a tune from WMP can't be moved to an ipod????? Or vice versa???
  
  DRM serves no purpose and will only cause troubles in the future.
  
  I stopped buying music online unless it comes DRM free or I'm only buying one track from a special artist.
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thinkx, 11 Sep 2006 @ 12:53pm

Google steps in...
and Apple announces a deal to get their iTunes/iMovie bandwidth from the gobs of "dark" fibre capacity that Google has been quietly buying.. then you can download the music/movies as many times are you like, and the DRM will be applied on your computer, instead of on the server when you purchase it.

(it's my job to predict what other companies SHOULD do.. oh snap!!!)
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Corey, 11 Sep 2006 @ 12:56pm

Re: Yes
They're heroes until you attempt to make a claim, they're heroes until you are late paying the premium, they're heroes untill you make a claim. Yeah, they're heroes all right.
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Anonymous Coward, 11 Sep 2006 @ 1:48pm

DRM =
Digital Restrictions Management.
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Bill M., 11 Sep 2006 @ 1:59pm

CoJeff,

Yes I had a backup but a little out of date. And what I really mean is not unattended but "self-service" (i.e., I wouldn't have to write in to re-download).

The point is that you can often re-download your purchased music files.
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- CoJeff, 11 Sep 2006 @ 3:24pm
  
  Re:
  Billl M, That sucks about your backup. Its happened to me a long time ago. The HD I had my itunes library going to failed and corupted the whole thing. It took me 4 months to get it back. I won't be caught like that again.
  
  Don't get me wrong I believe you should be able to redownload your tracks but the backup responsiblity is on the user. I also think redownloads should have limits. Certainly more than 1 but less than 10.
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Sanguine Dream, 11 Sep 2006 @ 2:02pm

Its all good now...
but just wait until the insurance company starts putting in clauses left and right.
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speculatrix, 11 Sep 2006 @ 2:05pm

ebooks - fictionwise
I really like fictionwise for ebooks, because anything you buy stays on the bookshelf so you can re-download any time, even changing the file format!

I've never used iTunes, but I always assumed it would follow the same model, if it doesn't, then I wouldn't touch it!
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Brandon Rusnak, 11 Sep 2006 @ 2:11pm

DRM Sucks
DRM sucks. The main thing I hate about it is that I can't be 100% sure when I backup my DRM'ed tracks from WalMart that the licence backup will work. Also if I was to have my PC catch fire I'm not sure if I could play my music on another PC. Ouch.

I'd go with CDs, but with their overinflated prices and occasional rootkits (Bad Sony, Bad) I don't buy them. DRM'ed music is the only way for me to get individual tracks from artists.

It sucks!
BMR777
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Jesper, 11 Sep 2006 @ 2:42pm

A DRM-free (legal) alternative
#10

eMusic.com - legal, drm-free, to keep music download (no I'm not an investor). Only downside is that the 'evil quaduplets' (sony, emi, etc.) isn't participating. But lots of jazz, blues, classic, indie, country and so on...
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Anonymous, 11 Sep 2006 @ 3:08pm

The real point is....
The real point is the the insurance companies are not protecting your file they are protecting the time and money you spent. Due too the copy right laws says that non of us "own" the music and or moives that we downloaded but the right to "use" it. That is why it is illegal to "make backups" of the said downloads. If we were protecting the files than we wouldn't have the huge mess with the RIAA that we had.
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Ed Nixon, 12 Sep 2006 @ 2:20am

AS a former Insurance ............
In a long ago past career I was a multi line aduster - I handled auto, homeowners and so on.

A word of caution - for any property claim - whether from theft, fire, wind - one must still 'prove' what they owned. It is not fun, but inventory all of your gadgets and their contents, including all other personal property.

also consider, increasing the coverage on your 'personal property' - Saw too many times on total fires, that the homeowner did not have enough coverage to replace all of their belongings. Me thinks this is even more vitally important now, due to all of our gadgets.

The fraudsters make it difficult on us honest folk - they over claim items lost or damaged.

On a Fire Claim, I could take up to 200+ photos!! I would photo the interior, exterior and any piles of debris the firemen had removed from the house to the yard. Many a time those photos were used to 'reconstruct' the houses contents. That antique hunk of furniture claimed, did not exist!!! And that would turn into a Felony!

I know the same can be done for one's HDD and Ipods.
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Jesper, 12 Sep 2006 @ 5:54am

A DRM-free (legal) alternative
#10

eMusic.com - legal, drm-free, to keep music download (no I'm not an investor). Only downside is that the 'evil quaduplets' (sony, emi, etc.) isn't participating. But lots of jazz, blues, classic, indie, country and so on...
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- Jesper, 12 Sep 2006 @ 7:32am
  
  Re: A DRM-free (legal) alternative
  Re: Me
  
  Whoops. Lesson learned: Dont refresh pages containing POST data...
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